Fairfield High Schoolers Had Fewer As, More Fs and Ds, In 2018-19

FAIRFIELD, CT — The percentage of A grades earned by most Fairfield high school students dropped during the 2018-19 school year, while the percentage of Ds and Fs those students received increased under a homework policy that has since been revised.

The Fairfield school board discussed changes to the district's approach to homework at a recent meeting, during which Fairfield Ludlowe High School Headmaster Greg Hatzis and Fairfield Warde High School Headmaster Paul Cavanna gave a presentation on the topic.

Hatzis reported that the percentage of As decreased last school year by 3 to 5 percent for students in grades 9 to 11, while Ds and Fs increased by 1 to 3 percent for the same group.

"This was a trend that we saw at both schools," he said.

Board member Jeff Peterson expressed concern about the statistics, and asked to see the same numbers again in a year.

"I'm challenged by the conclusions of this," he said. "... I do find it disturbing that this system failed more kids."

Prior to the past school year, district high school students operated on a quarter system with mid-term exams in January and finals at the end of the school year, according to board member and policy committee Chair Jennifer Maxon-Kennelly. Each quarter counted toward 20 percent of a student's grade and the mid-term was 10 percent, as was the final. How students were graded outside of the percentage breakdown was up to teacher discretion.

In the 2018-19 school year, the district switched to cumulative grading with no mid-term. Under that system, a student's cumulative grade for the year counted for 80 percent of a course grade, and the final counted for 20 percent. The new policy also required that all graded assessments be summative, which means a student's work is expected to reflect mastery of the course material.

In June, the board voted to change the policy and require course grades no longer be determined solely by summative assessments. District administration later chose to require 10 percent of each course grade be made up of non-summative material, such as homework completion or work habits, while the other 90 percent remained summative.

Hatzis said GPAs were likely slightly lower in 2018-19 because students did not see homework as something that would affect their grade and were less likely to do it.

"Students felt like it didn't count," he said.

More than half of teachers surveyed felt a student's behavior should be reflected in their grade, according to Hatzis, while 43 percent were in favor of the 90 percent summative grading format.

Maxon-Kennelly asked during the Aug. 27 meeting if it was appropriate that grades went down under the new policy, saying Fairfield has a reputation of grade inflation.

Hatzis said that, anecdotally, teachers felt the policy decreased grade inflation.

"It was never the intention to target that in any way," he said.

The district plans to establish a grading practices committee as soon as this month.